


Memento

by auriond



Category: Psycho-Pass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:26:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26722867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/auriond/pseuds/auriond
Summary: Enforcer Ginoza wants to attend a coin collector's event, but Shimotsuki's having none of it. Tsunemori intervenes, and learns a little more about Ginoza in the process.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	Memento

"Permission denied," Shimotsuki said flatly.

Ginoza stared at her, and for a moment his eyes hardened into cold angles - a reflex born of a lifetime of putting up defenses. He took a deep breath and carefully moderated his voice. "May I ask why it was denied, Inspector?"

"You're not allowed to leave the building without an inspector with you. I'm not about to accompany you, I have better things to do. Senpai's not here, so I'm responsible for you Enforcers." She glanced about the Division 1 office with barely concealed disdain. Hinakawa hunched over his keyboard, pretending not to hear anything. Sugo raised his head from his lunch; when Shimotsuki wasn't looking, he waggled his eyebrows in rueful sympathy at Ginoza, who returned it with a resigned shrug. 

"You could ask someone from the other divisions to accompany you," Sugo suggested tentatively.

"Shut up!" Shimotsuki snapped. "I'm not handing him over to someone else! For all I know, he could be plotting to escape."

"Me?" Ginoza said mildly.

"Yes you." She glared at him, daring him to defy her. He almost wanted to laugh instead. 

He gave it one more attempt. "Even though we're Enforcers, we are entitled to five personal days off in the year. And we can leave the building on personal errands, provided that we're accompanied." He could not resist tossing in a sardonic, " _Missy_ ".

That might have been a mistake. Shimotsuki bristled at the diminutive. "Subject to approval by your direct superior. And _Missy_ , here, is your direct superior." She turned back to her screen, clearly considering the matter closed. Ginoza sighed and returned to his station.

The door to the office slid open, and a slight figure entered, dressed far too casually for the sombre workplace. Shimotsuki gaped at it. 

"Senpai!" she exclaimed, all indignant outrage. "Isn't this your day off?"

"Yes, but I didn't have anything to do at home, so I thought I would come in and pick up some paperwork." Tsunemori inclined her head at the three Enforcers, took her seat at her workstation and turned it on. She looked surprised as a notification popped up on the screen. 

"Application to leave the building for personal reasons? Ginoza-san?"

"I was just about to reject it," Shimotsuki said hastily, reaching for her keyboard.

"But aren't Enforcers entitled to five personal days off a year?" asked Tsunemori. She tapped a key and the notification blipped a brief green before vanishing. Ginoza's wrist communicator lit up with her approval. A sudden hope rose within him.

"Well, _I'm_ not going to accompany him!" Shimotsuki said it with all the finality she could muster.

"That's fine," Tsunemori replied cheerfully, "I will." She turned off her computer and rose from her seat. "Ginoza-san, are you ready to go?" 

Ginoza suppressed a chuckle. "Of course, Inspector."

*****

"A coin collector's event?" 

"The biggest in Tokyo," Ginoza assured her. "I'm sorry. I know I should have applied for leave earlier, but I couldn't do it till we had closed that case... And today's the last day. I couldn't miss it." 

Tsunemori shook her head and took her eyes off the road long enough to gaze in wonder at the man next to her in the passenger seat. "Ginoza-san, I never thought you were the type to collect coins."

He flushed and made a show of looking out of the window. "Well, I have hobbies too... to pass the time."

She smiled and chose to let it go. They pulled up in the parking lot of the convention center, where the number of cars indicated a fairly good-sized crowd. Ginoza led the way into the convention hall, his strides almost eager. Inside, he navigated the stalls and booths with comfortable familiarity, and Tsunemori was content to trot along behind. Occasionally, he explained the significance of this booth or that coin in a low, quiet voice that only barely concealed his excitement. His expression was calm, even serious, but his green eyes glowed like a child's in a toy store. This was a side of her ex-partner that she had never seen before, and she studied it like an ornithologist would an exotic bird. 

She watched as he came across a booth selling rare American coins, and his eyes widened at the sight of a particular time-dulled disc within a protective clear plastic case. It looked unremarkable to her - an old coin like countless others at the event - but it had prompted him to start gnawing at his knuckles, something so uncharacteristic of him that she felt compelled to ask.

"Ginoza-san, what is that?" 

"A 1798 Bust Dollar," he replied absently, half to himself. "It might be... no... could it? The price seems too low... But I can't remember the year..." 

" _Ginoza-san_ ," she said plaintively.

"Ah, sorry," he apologized. "It's just that they've displayed only the head of this coin, which shows that it's an American dollar coin from 1798. That's a rare coin, but there's a version of this coin where the reverse side shows a plain eagle, and another version where it shows a heraldic eagle... The heraldic eagle is worth a lot more, even though it's not as old as the plain ones. But just from the year, I can't tell which it is, and this coin seems to be in very good condition."

"Maybe you should ask the stallholder," she said, more out of an attempt to continue taking an active part in a conversation that made her feel like a fish out of water than out of any real desire to be helpful.

"Yes, but..." Ginoza looked at the price: 32,000 yen. "I'm not sure I'm ready to spend that much on a coin..."

"Just ask," she urged him.

"Yes, you're right." He turned to the stallholder and asked to look at the coin. The man took it out of the display case, still in its clear plastic shell, and turned it over. Tsunemori was watching the Enforcer's face closely, so she saw him stiffen with excitement, his eyes flashing with suppressed delight as they rested on the eagle crest embossed on the coin's reverse side.

Ginoza asked a few more deceptively casual questions, and then he agreed to buy the coin. Ten minutes later, they walked out of the convention center with his latest acquisition tucked safely inside his suit jacket. 

"That was scary!" he confessed as they got into the car. "I've never spent so much on a single coin before!" His face bore the exhilaration of someone who had just stepped off a rollercoaster, and who had thoroughly enjoyed the experience. 

Tsunemori beamed at him. "But this trip wasn't a waste, then? You didn't even buy anything else."

"I had my eye on a few Japanese sets, but I'm quite fond of American coins. Did you know I named my dog after one?" He seemed particularly chatty all of a sudden. Tsunemori smiled, and let him ramble on about coins till they got back to headquarters.

*****

"Dime, I'm home."

The old Akita thumped his tail in greeting, then hauled himself to his feet and padded over to his master to sniff at his hands. 

"Sorry, I don't have a treat for you now. I'll get you one later. But I did get myself a treat for a change." Ginoza produced the package from his jacket pocket with a flourish and held it out for the dog to examine. Dime touched his nose to it experimentally, determined that it was neither dangerous nor edible, and returned to his favourite spot with an almost offended air. Ginoza chuckled and went to get the tools he needed for mounting his new prize.

It didn't take him long, and when he was done, the American 1798 Bust Dollar now occupied a position of pride among his collection. He stepped back and folded his arms in satisfaction.

It had cost him, but it was a cost that he could afford. Perhaps he was being frivolous for spending so much on his hobbies, but the way he saw it, his hobbies were all he had now to keep him going. They gave him something tangible to cling to, something solid, material, and - he reflected with a wry smile - probably less ephemeral than most of what he had chosen to devote his heart to. These coins had lasted centuries. They had seen people come and go, had survived devastating wars and ushered in new eras of hope and peace. They would survive him, and he took comfort in that fact.

Dime had come up quietly beside him to sit and stare with doggy curiosity at the tiny disc of metal on the wall. Ginoza leaned over and scratched him affectionately behind the ears. Life may be short - and an Enforcer's even shorter than most - but he was done fighting it. He was just going to go with it, bouncing and rolling, until he finally came to rest somewhere. Until then, he was going to cherish what he had left. His health, his abilities, his relationships with the remaining people in his life. He had to do whatever it took to keep himself going, in order to protect them.

And if it meant that he was going to fill his living quarters with old coins and other mementos of the past, then that was exactly what he would do.


End file.
